The Pālas of Bengal/Chapter 1

by Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay

 

The Pālas of Bengal.
By R. D. Banerji, M.A., Indian Museum, Calcutta.
[With Plates XXIV—XXXII, XXXVI—XXXVIII.]

CHAPTER I.
Introduction.

After the death of Harṣavarddhana, nothing is definitely known about the history of Bengal and Bihar, till the rise of the Pālas. In fact the only definite date after the death of Harṣavarddhana, is the year 66, of the Harṣa era, on the Shāhpur image of Sūryya.^[1] The Guptas of Magadha.We know from the Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena, that Mādhavagupta was the contemporary of Harṣa,^[2] and that Ādityasena succeeded in making himself independent in Magadha. The Deo-Banārak inscription of Jīvitagupta II carries the genealogy of the family for three generations further. These princes Devagupta, Viṣṇugupta and Jīvitagupta II continued to assume Imperial titles, though most probably their possessions were insignificant. The dynasty came to an end with the last-named prince, Jīvitagupta II.

The exact circumstances which led to the fall of this ancient dynasty are not known, but it seems certain that the event took place in troublesome times. Bengal was run over by Yaśovarmmadeva of Kanauj during the first two decades of the eighth century A.D.^[3] The dark period.Most probably Jīvitagupta II was the king who was overthrown by this invasion. Ādityasena's only definite date is 671 A.D., and this gives us about 40 or 50 years for four generations, which is certainly not too much. We do not know anything about the successors of Jīvitagupta II, but we know of several other foreign invasions of Bengal about the same time from contemporary records. Foreign invasions.The invasion from Kanauj was followed by one from Assam. The King Harṣadeva conquered Bengal, Orissa and the Northern Sarkars (Gauḍ = Oḍr = ādi-Kaliṇga-Kośala-pati). As his grandson, Jayadeva, the Licchavi, was reigning in the sixth decade of the eighth century A.D.,^[4] the date of his maternal grandfather must be placed some time earlier. Most probably this invasion from Assam closely followed upon the heels of that from Kanauj, or we may one day be surprised to learn that both armies invaded Bengal jointly. Harṣadeva must have held Bengal for a sufficiently long time, so as to enable him to pass through that country and conquer Oḍra (Orissa), Kaliṇga (Northern Sarkars), and Kośala (Orissa Hill Tracts). The Gauḍa-vaho and the Rājataraṇginī has familiarized us with the story of the banished king, Jayāpīḍa, who came to Bengal, married the daughter of the king, and freed him from the subjection of his liege-lord.^[5] From Kanauj, Assam.According to the able translator of the Rājataraṅginī, the true date of this king is between 760 and 800 A.D. Finally Bengal was conquered by the Gurjara and Rāṣṭrakūṭa kings. The Gurjara king Vatsarāja, according to the Gwalior inscription of Mihira-Bhoja, had seized by main force the imperial sway from the house of Bhāṇḍi:—

Khyātād = Bhāṇḍi-kulān = madotkaṭa-kari-prākāra durllaṅghato yaḥ sāmrājyam = adhijya-kārmmuka-sakhā saṁkhye haṭhād = agrahīt—verse 7.^[6]

Most probably after the fall of Harṣavarddhana, the family of his cousin Bhaṇḍi succeeded to the Empire. Bhaṇḍi is mentioned in the Harṣacarita as the mother's brother's son of Harṣa.^[7] Vatsarāja is said to have conquered Bengal very easily and taken away from its king the radiantly white royal umbrellas. In the Wani grant of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Govinda III, his father Dhruvarāja is said to have taken away these umbrellas from Vatsarāja and driven him away into the desert:—

Helā-svīkŗta-Gauḍa-rājya-kamalā-mattaṁ praveśy-ācirād = durmārgam = marumadhyam = aprati-balair = yo Vatsarājaṁ balaiḥ Gauḍīyaṁ Śaradindupāda-dhavalaṁ chatradvayaṁ kevalaṁ tasmān = n = āhṛta tad-yaśo = pi kakubhaṁ prānte sthitaṁ tat-kṣaṇāt.

"Having with his armies, which no other army could withstand, quickly caused Vatsarāja, intoxicated with the goddess of the sovereignty of the country of Gauḍa, that he had acquired with ease, to enter upon the path of misfortune in the centre of the deserts or Maru, he took away from him not only the two royal umbrellas of Gauḍa, that were as radiantly white as the rays of the autumn moon, but almost, at the same moment, his fame that had reached to the extremities of the regions."^[8]

The late Mr. A. M. T. Jackson supposed that the country conquered by Vatsarāja was Thanesar.^[9] But the Gurjara king conquered Gauḍa and Vaṅga at the same time and the two umbrellas were, most probably, one for Gauḍa and the other for Vaṅga like the double crown of Egypt:—

Gauḍendra-Vaṅgapati nirjjaya-durvvidagdha sad = gurjjareśvara dig = arggalatāṁ ca yasya,

Nītvā bhujaṁ vihata-mālava-rakṣaṇārthaṁ svāmī tath = ānyam-api rājya-phalām bhuṅkte.—Baroda plates of Karkarāja.^[10]

The Radhanpur grant also contains the verse about the defeat of Vatsarāja by Dhruva.^[11] So according to the Wani and Radhanpur grants Dhruva, father of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Govinda III, drove Vatsarāja back into the desert, and wrested from him the double royal umbrellas of Gauḍa, and according to the Baroda grant Govinda III caused Karkarāja's arm to become the doorbar of the country of the Lord of the Gurjaras, who had become evilly inflamed by conquering the Lord of Gauḍa and Vaṅga. The verses in both grants do not refer to the same person. The first verse refers to Vatsarāja, the contemporary of Dhruva, but the second verse refers to Nāgabhaṭa II, son of Vatsarāja, who was defeated by Govinda III.

This brings us to the fourth foreign invasion of this period, the invasion of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. It is evident from the verses quoted above that the Gurjara king's conquest was not a lasting one. Close on his heels followed the southerner and obliged him to relinquish his conquests and even forced him to retire into the desert country, his original home. When the double white umbrella was snatched away from Vatsarāja, the Kingdom of Gauḍa and Vaṅga must also have passed into the hands of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa conquerer. Nothing is known definitely about the close of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa occupation, but most probably it did not last long. As soon the Rāṣṭrakūṭa forces were withdrawn, the local princes must have re-asserted their authority.

During this period of foreign invasions and consequent anarchy and misrule, the old Royal dynasty must have come to an end, the harassed populace felt the necessity of a strong and able ruler. The election of a king by the subjectsThey held an election about the details of which we know nothing. As a result of this election Gopāladeva, the son of a successful soldier named Vapyaṭa, was elected king. In the Khalimpur grant of Dharmmapāla it is said that the people made him take the hand of fortune:—

Mātsya-nyāyam-apohituṁ prakṛtibhir-lakṣmyāḥ karaṁ-grāhitaḥ Śrī-Gopāla iti kṣitīśa-śirasāṁ cuḍāmaṇis-tat-sutaḥ, Yasy-ānukriyate sanātana-yaśo-rāsir-diśām-āśaye śvetimnā yadi paurṇṇamāsa-rajanī jyotsn-ātibhāra-śriyā.—verse 4.^[12]

The composer of the Khalimpur inscription puts the cause of this election very nicely in the above verse: Mātsya-nyāyam-apohituṁ, "to escape from anarchy," as Mr. K. P. Jayaswal translates it.^[13] That the danger of being swallowed up into the kingdom of a powerful neighbour, was not exaggerated, is amply evident from the foregoing account of the foreign invasions of Bengal during the dark period.

Nothing is known about the origin of this new line of kings, who continued to hold sway over Bihar or Bengal till the final conquest of the country by the Muhammadans. In the oldest inscription of this dynasty Dayitaviṣṇu, the grandfather of Gopāla I, is called the progenitor of this line of kings, and it was stated, that he was sanctified by all sorts of knowledge (sarvva-vidyāvadātaḥ).^[14] The origin of the dynasty.Most probably the family was of such a humble origin that even the names of Dayitaviṣṇu's forefathers were not known in the time of his great-grandson. In later biographical works and inscriptions like the Rāmacarita of Sandhyākara-nandi and the Kamauli grant of Vaidyadeva, mythical accounts are given of the origin of the Pālas. The Kamauli grant mentions very distinctly that the king Vigrahapāla III was born in the race of the Sun.^[15] The Rāmacarita and the Bengali poem Dharmmamaṅgala of Ghanarāma give a different account altogether. This account is given very fully in the Kaṅurpālā of Ghanarāma's work, according to which the kings of the Pāla dynasty after Dharmmapāla were really the descendants of the Sea-god. This tradition is not very coherent as Mahamahopadhyaya Hara Prasada Sastri has shown. In the Rāmacarita, king Dharmmapāla is mentioned as "the light of the race of the Sea."^[16] Thus the Rāmacarita corroborates the tradition embodied in Ghanarāma's work to some extent. It shows that the origin of the new line of kings was remembered by the people long after their accession and even after their fall. The descent from the Sea most probably indicates that the forefathers of this line of kings came from the Sea and in the absence of a plausible account of their ancestry became known as the children of the Sea-God.

 

1. Fleet's Gupta Inscriptions, Vol. III, pp. 209-10.
2. Ibid., p. 207.
3. J.R.A.S.. 1908, p. 76.
4. Ind. Ant., Vol. IX, p. 178.
5. Mem. A.S.B., Vol. III, p. 3, note 2.
6. Anu. Rep. Arch. Surv. Ind., 1903-04, p. 281.
7. Cowell and Thomas, Harsacarita, Or. Tr. Fund Series, p. 116.
8. Ind. Ant., Vol. XI, p. 157.
9. J.R.A.S., 1905, pp. 103-04.
10. Ind. Ant., Vol. XII, p. 160, II. 39-40.
11. Epi. Ind., Vol. VI, p. 243.
12. Ibid., Vol. IV, p. 248.
13. Arthaśāstra of Cānakya.
14. J.A.S.B., 1894, p. 47, and Mem. A.S.B., Vol. III, p. 3.
15. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 350.
16. Mem. A.S.B., Vol., III, pp. 2-3 and 20.